Word Origin & History

tall "high in stature," 1520s, probably ultimately from O.E. getæl "prompt, active." Sense evolved to "brave, valiant, seemly, proper" (c.1400), then to "attractive, handsome" (mid-15c.), and finally "being of more than average height." The O.E. word is related to O.H.G. gi-zal "quick," Goth. un-tals "indocile." Sense evolution is remarkable, but adjectives applied to persons often mutate quickly in meaning (e.g. pretty, 'boxom, Ger. klein "small, little," which in M.H.G. meant the same as its English cognate clean). Phrase tall, dark, and handsome is recorded from 1906.

Example Sentences for taller

The men are taller than the average, and the women, relatively, taller than the men.

Miss Merton is the taller, but there is something fierce in her eyes.

I wish you'd light up, evenin's, an' not set here by one taller candle!

Evidently Dick is the taller, for Mr. Don has to look up to him.

She was a lithe, strong woman, taller than he, or else she would have fallen.

They were armed with sheath knives and revolvers, and the taller bore a rifle.

These too, in turn, became sprinkled with the darker and taller pines.

The man was tall and thin, taller and thinner than Mr. Gubb himself.

I really think you must be a little like him, only browner and taller, perhaps.

The broader the brim and the taller the crown, the more they are admired.